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Diamond Princess (ship)

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Diamond Princess anchored in Toba in December 2019
History
United Kingdom
NameDiamond Princess
OwnerCarnival Corporation & plc
OperatorPrincess Cruises
Port of registry
BuilderMitsubishi Heavy Industries
CostUS$500 million
Yard number2181
Laid down2 March 2002
Launched12 April 2003
Christened2004
Completed26 February 2004
Maiden voyage2004
In serviceMarch 2004
Identification
StatusQuarantined in Tokyo Bay off Yokohama[2]
Notes[1]
General characteristics
Class and typeGem-class cruise ship
Tonnage115,875 GT
Length290.2 m (952 ft 1 in)
Beam37.49 m (123 ft 0 in)
Height62.48 m (205 ft 0 in)
Draught8.53 m (28 ft 0 in)
Decks13
Installed powerWärtsilä 46 series common rail engines
PropulsionTwin propellers
Speed22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Capacity2,670 passengers
Crew1,100 crew
Notes[1]

Diamond Princess is a British-registered cruise ship owned and operated by Princess Cruises. It began operation in March 2004 and primarily cruises in Asia during the northern hemisphere summer and Australia during the southern hemisphere summer. It is a subclassed Template:Sclass- ship, which is also known as a Gem-class ship. Diamond Princess and its “sister” ship, Sapphire Princess, are the widest subclass of Grand-class ships, as they have a 37.5 m (123 ft 0 in) beam while all other Grand-class ships have a beam of 36 m (118 ft 1 in). Diamond Princess and Sapphire Princess were both built in Nagasaki, Japan by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

On 3 February 2020, 3,711 passengers and crew were quarantined by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare after a passenger on the ship tested positive for COVID-19. This was the largest coronavirus outbreak on a cruise ship. As of 24 February 2020, 691 passengers have tested positive for COVID-19.[3] On 25 February, Japan's health ministry announced that four passengers had died after contracting the virus.[4][5]

Construction

The ship was originally intended to be christened Sapphire Princess. However, construction of another ship — the one intended to be Diamond Princess (currently sailing as Sapphire Princess) — was delayed when fire swept through her decks during construction. Because completion of the damaged ship would be delayed for some time, her sister ship, which was also under construction, was renamed Diamond Princess. The name swap helped keep the delivery of Diamond Princess on time.[6] She was the first Princess Cruises ship to be built in a Japanese shipyard and lacks the "wing" or "spoiler" known as Skywalkers Night Club, which can be seen on Caribbean Princess, Star Princess and Crown Princess.

Machinery

The diesel-electric plant of Diamond Princess has four diesel generators and a gas turbine generator. The diesel generators are Wärtsilä 46 series common rail engines, two straight 9-cylinder configuration (9L46), and two straight 8-cylinder configuration (8L46). The 8- and 9-cylinder engines can produce approximately 8,500 kW (11,400 hp) and 9,500 kW (12,700 hp) of power respectively. These engines are fueled with heavy fuel oil (HFO or bunker c) and marine gas oil (MGO) depending on the local regulations regarding emissions, as MGO produces much lower emissions but is much more expensive.

The gas turbine generator is a General Electric LM2500, producing a peak of 25,000 kW (34,000 hp) of power fueled by MGO. This generator is much more expensive to run than the diesel generators, and is used mostly in areas, such as Alaska, where the emissions regulations are strict. It is also used when high speed is required to make it to a port in a shorter time period.

There are two propulsion electric motors which drive fixed-pitch propellers and six thrusters used during maneuvering; three bow and three stern. The propulsion electric motors (PEMs), are conventional synchronous motors made by Alstom Motors. The two motors are each rated to 20 MW and have a maximum speed of 154 rpm. (Rated speed of 0-145 rpm.)

In June 2017 Diamond Princess was retrofitted with a hull air lubrication system to reduce fuel consumption and related CO2 emissions.[7]

Cruising areas

Prior to 2014, Diamond Princess alternated sailing north and southbound voyages of the glacier cruises during the northern summer months and in the southern summer, she sailed from Australia and New Zealand. Starting in 2014, she undertook cruises from Yokohama for Tokyo or Kobe in the northern summer season.[8]

For the 2016–17 season, she sailed roundtrip cruises in the northern winter months from Singapore.[9] Kota Kinabalu was added as part of its destination along with Vietnamese port of Nha Trang in December 2016.[10] She resumed voyaging from Sydney for the 2017–18 season.[11]

After the 2018 Australia & New Zealand cruises, Diamond Princess was re-positioned into South-East Asia for most of 2018, varying between Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Taiwan and Malaysia.[12] She is projected to remain in South-East Asia (predominantly in Japanese waters) to early 2021.[13]

Incidents

2016 gastroenteritis cases

In February 2016, Diamond Princess experienced a gastroenteritis ("gastro") outbreak caused by norovirus sickening 158 passengers and crew on board, as confirmed after arrival in Sydney by NSW Health.[14][15]

2020 COVID-19 cases

Main article: 2020 coronavirus outbreak on Diamond Princess
See also: MS Westerdam § 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak

On 20 January 2020 an 80-year-old guest from Hong Kong embarked in Yokohama, sailed one segment of the itinerary, and disembarked in Hong Kong on 25 January. He visited a local Hong Kong hospital, six days after leaving the ship, where he later tested positive for COVID-19 on 1 February.[16][17] On the next voyage, on 4 February 2020, the ship was in Japanese waters when 10 passengers were diagnosed with 2019 novel coronavirus during the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak.[18]

The ship has been quarantined for more than a week[clarification needed] in the Port of Yokohama in Japan. As of 19 February, as many as 634 out of the 3,711 passengers and crew had been infected, with three deaths.[19][20] These include at least 138 Indians, including 132 crew and 6 passengers, 35 Filipinos, 32 Canadians, 24 Australians, 13 Americans, 4 Indonesians, and 2 Britons.[21][22][23] Many countries, including Canada, Australia, the United States, Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong[24] and the United Kingdom, have arranged measures to evacuate their citizens and quarantine them in their own countries. As of 24 February, the ship has seen 691 cases and 3 deaths, and remains under lockdown. The vast majority of cases onboard, as well as in Japan itself (due to 24 passengers who left the ship without proper testing) leave many wondering if containment measures are enough.[21][22][23]

References

  1. ^ a b "Advanced Masterdata for the Vessel Diamond Princess". VesselTracker. 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
  2. ^ Peel, Charlie; Snowden, Angelica (6 February 2020). "Coronavirus: Cases double on Diamond Princess overnight, still in lockdown". The Australian. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  3. ^ "Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases". Johns Hopkins CSSE.
  4. ^ Chappell, Bill (20 February 2020). "Coronavirus: South Korea Says COVID-19 Cases Doubled In 24 Hours". Goats and Soda. NPR.
  5. ^ "Coronavirus cases on Diamond Princess soar past 500, site of most infections outside China". USA Today. 18 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Cruise Ship Sapphire Princess To Be Delivered to Princess Cruises" (Press release). Hideo Ikuno, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. 26 May 2004. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014.
  7. ^ "Air lubrication system". Seatrade-cruise. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  8. ^ "Princess Cruises Unveils 2015 Japan Cruise Program". Princess Cruises. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Princess Cruises Debuts 2016-2017 Exotics Sailings". Princess Cruises. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  10. ^ Mark Elliott (2 December 2016). "Princess Cruises adds Kota Kinabalu to Asian season". Travel Asia Daily. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Emerald Princess cruise ship to debut in Sydney: Another cruise giant to call Australia home". Traveller. 7 January 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  12. ^ "Cruise Search Results:Princess Cruises". www.princess.com. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  13. ^ "Diamond Princess Cruises". www.seascanner.com. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  14. ^ Kembrey, Melanie (4 February 2016). "More than 150 passengers and crew sick with gastro on board cruise ship". WA Today. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  15. ^ Brown, Michelle (4 February 2016). "Cruise ship hit by norovirus gastroenteritis docks in Sydney". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Retrieved 7 February 2016.
  16. ^ "Updates on Diamond Princess". Princess. 4 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  17. ^ "Coronavirus: Dozens more catch virus on quarantined cruise ship". BBC. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  18. ^ Peel, Charlie; Snowden, Angelica (6 February 2020). "Coronavirus: Cases double on Diamond Princess overnight, still in lockdown". The Australian. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  19. ^ Yasharoff, Julia Thompson and Hannah. "Coronavirus cases on Diamond Princess soar past 500, site of most infections outside China". USA TODAY. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  20. ^ "横浜港で検疫中のクルーズ船に関連した患者の死亡について". mhlw.go.jp (in Japanese). Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. 23 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ a b "Number of Canadians on Diamond Princess testing positive for COVID-19 virus rises to 32 | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  22. ^ a b Bangkok, Justin McCurry Rebecca Ratcliffe in (18 February 2020). "British couple on Diamond Princess question positive coronavirus test". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  23. ^ a b Daniel Allman; Hollie Silverman; Konstantin Toropin. "13 Americans moved to Omaha facility from evacuation flights, US officials say". CNN. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  24. ^ Coronavirus: Hong Kong sends charter flights to bring stranded cruise ship passengers home | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP
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